User blog:Cheetawolfnitrotyper/How to Become a Moderator or Administrator
So recently I have seen a ton of users asking for administrator (or moderator). While we don’t have hidden tricks or shortcuts on how to become a moderator, we will be discussing about how we will be choosing people to become a moderator that will take effect starting right now. I’ll be talking mostly about becoming a moderator here, because if you’re not a moderator, this should be your first “goal.” If you do want to become an administrator, I might create another post about this when I have the time. Why did I quote “goal”? Because that should not be your goal at all. I’ll say basically the same thing I said in another post: *”Look, less than 5% of people here are administrators, and even less become one now due to the fact that more people are becoming wiki editors and less people are needed to become an administrator. If you set your goal as becoming an administrator, you are likely to be disappointed. If, however, you set your goal as being active, helpful to other users, and yourself, then you will succeed on your own terms AND be a better moderator/administrator.” What does the above mean? It means that you should be focused on being your best self, not on who you think the administrators want you to be. Don’t be afraid to do this. What you think the staff wants for moderator/administrator candidates is probably VERY wrong, because of how little information you have, because staff reviews almost all applications for moderator or administrator, applications which you haven't reviewed. Now let’s discuss on what we look for when you apply to become a moderator. SPOILER: We have never done this before. Therefore, this is subject to change. However, it will take all of the important features that we want to see in our future staff members, so it should probably change very slightly, if at all. If you’re a staff member reading this, please read this whole post, and then make some suggestions. Before We Begin Do not ask to become an moderator/administrator without having done a good amount of quality edits. It is a complete waste of staff’s time and your time if you do this. Staff cannot be on this site 24/7, and we certainly won’t be promoting users who haven’t done edits beyond asking for staff roles. But if you do plan to do this, there are some consequences: *You will solely be thinking about becoming a moderator, and will be less focused on helping the community. Helping the community is what you should be focused on, becoming a moderator is only a positive consequence of that. *'You will be less likely to become an moderator/administrator when you choose to apply again.' So don't do this. If you are wondering what to do/ask to become an administrator, please keep reading. You’ll still get something out of this. The New Thing (aka My Plan) Let’s cut to the chase. We will be rating each potential staff member applicant on a scale of 1-5 in these categories: *Mainspace Editing *Discussions *Everything else (templates, categories, images, etc.) *Personality 1 is the highest possible score, not 5. Then we use this ratings to give an “overall” rating, again from 1 to 5. This overall rating is critical for determining whether you become a moderator/administrator. If you haven’t been participating in at least one of mainspace editing, discussions, and everything else, do not worry. The overall rating is not a strict average of the four ratings. We will instead be curving your overall rating to weight it more toward your highest score. Now, let’s get to the rubric. I will redact information the information as to what specifically earns a 1, as well as some other ratings. (I’m doing this because I know you’ll be manipulating this system if I give you everything.) You might be able to impute what the rest of the ratings mean by what is left. Also, it is possible for you to get a 1 in every rating without having any extra rights beyond a normal user. In other words, nothing you have to do here is something that only people with certain rights can do. Mainstream Editing 1: redacted 2: Strong contributor; contributor with lots of good quality edits. 3: Active editing. 4: Little or no interest. 5: Edits negatively impact the community. Discussions 1: redacted 2: Strong contributions; possible leadership roles. 3: Active participation. 4: Little or no interest. 5: Edits negatively impact the community. Everything else (templates, categories, projects, etc.) 1: redacted “In most cases, has unusual strength, creativity, or achievement. A potential major contributor in the community.” 2: Very strong contributions. 3: Active participation. 4: Little to no contributions. 5: Negative impact on the community. Personality 1: Outstanding. 2: Very strong. 3: Generally positive. 4: Bland. 5: Negative/worrisome personal qualities. Overall Then we will decide your overall rating. We will tell you what this means: 1: Guaranteed promotion, provided adequate space available 2: Promotion only if at least 30% of the staff supports you AND there is enough space available 3: Promotion only if at least 90% of the staff supports you AND we really need more people in those specified role (s); neutral, respectable. 4: Negative. 5: Not Considered. How does this rating determine whether or not I will become a staff member? Now let’s discuss what happens after the overall rating is given. If your overall rating is 1, you pretty much have guaranteed promotion, except in the cases where there are too many people taking up that role (which currently there are none). If your overall rating is 2, it becomes a bit harder to get promotion, but probably more than 30% of the staff will support you to earn promotion. You will get the role unless there are enough people that have the role you seek. If your overall rating is 3, then it becomes really hard to earn promotion. This is because 90% of the staff would have to support you, and we have less than 10 active staff members. This means that if one staff member does not support in favor of you, you will not be promoted. Furthermore, you will only be promoted if we really need people in the specified roles, which currently there are none. If your overall rating is 4 or 5, you will not be promoted. Therefore, you want an overall rating of 1 or 2 in order to have the highest chances of being promoted. And remember, your overall rating will be weighted toward your highest score and/or the area that you are applying for. For example, if you are applying to become a Discussions Moderator, your score in Discussions will be a significant factor. If you are applying for Content Moderator, your score in Mainspace will be a significant factor. If you are applying to become an Administrator, however, we recommend that you obtain ratings of 1 or 2 in all areas. So what do I do if I want to become an administrator? First, make sure that you meet the requirements. Try to have ratings of 1 or 2 in most of the areas to have the highest chance of being promoted. Second, make sure you apply here. Remember in your application to be specific, and make it unique to you. What do you mean? Good question. Many people struggle with this, so that’s fine. You want to make sure that your application cannot be duplicated by someone else. Here’s an example of an application that won’t work: *“I want to become a Discussions Moderator because I’m helpful in Discussions.” There are many things wrong with that response: it is vague and could apply to just about anyone applying for that role. Now consider this second one. Even though it’s not perfect, it’s still better: *“I want to become a Discussions Moderator because of my leadership roles in that area. I have helped people immensely in their questions, and I report bad posts. Furthermore, Discussions has provided me, along with many other people, the means to communicate on a topic we all care about, openly and communicatively. As a Discussions Moderator, I hope to remove bad posts, as well as move posts that should belong in another category into that category. My work in Discussions over the last six months has provided all of these views and much more. Nitro Type Wiki’s Discussions is an interdisciplinary community connecting people of various backgrounds to become uniquely interested in what they are interested in. Becoming Discussions Moderator will allow me to accomplish this even further and to the next level. See the difference? The second one uses specific details that apply to very few people, while the first one uses vague details that could apply to almost anyone. While you don’t have to as specific as the second person, the point is is that your application should contain things that are unique to you. So now what? Finally, remember that this is not set in stone yet, and I will talk with the rest of the staff regarding this. But, we’ve been looking for a consistent way to promote people, and no one else has mentioned this before. Hope you have a great happy holidays! Category:Admin Blog Post